According to researcher and translator Nguyen Quoc Vuong, young people need to focus on real learning, learning practical content that is suitable for students' abilities and the needs of society rather than caring about what kind of university degree, whether it is a big or small school...
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| According to researcher and translator Nguyen Quoc Vuong, young people should not care about what kind of university degree they have, whether they go to university or college, but should learn practical knowledge that is suitable to the needs of society. |
Degree is not the deciding factor
Choosing to go to university or vocational school, entering the labor market without training… are different paths for each candidate after graduating from high school. What is your opinion on the career choices of young people today?
I think university is not the only path to success in career and life. Life is very diverse, the needs, abilities, and tendencies of students and young people are very diverse.
Opportunities to have a career, from which to live independently and happily come from many different fields and spaces. Students and young people can grasp it in many ways. They can find opportunities when learning a trade, going to university or studying while working when participating in labor and production right after graduating from high school.
In the past, Vietnam's economy was mainly state-owned and small-scale farming. The situation is different now. Although Vietnam's economy cannot be compared to many countries in the region and the world, compared to 20-25 years ago, it has become much richer and more open. Thanks to that, opportunities for young people are also more numerous, more diverse, and richer. They also have more opportunities to study outside of school or to study while working.
In reality, employers no longer place too much importance on university degrees, so how do you think we need to change our thinking about going to university or learning a trade?
For certain occupations, a university degree is the minimum standard for employment due to mandatory law or industry regulations. However, there are many occupations where a degree is not a mandatory factor.
For professions that require a degree as a standard, it is just a "ticket" to enter the door. Everything must be demonstrated in the actual work, that is, the real ability of the recruited person.
Therefore, young people, families and schools need to focus on real learning. They need to learn practical content, suitable for their abilities and the needs of society, rather than worrying about what kind of degree, university or college, big school or small school... The private economic sector is currently very dynamic with a large number of small and medium-sized companies. That is a good "land" for young people to challenge their true abilities.
In this space, degrees are not the deciding factor. If you do not pursue an academic path to become a university lecturer, senior expert, scholar, etc., then you should not put too much emphasis on degrees. Young people can work while studying and get a degree after working in that field and accumulating experience. That is, they can return to university to learn the profession they are doing and get a degree. That is completely normal in a learning society.
Don't choose an easy career
Many young people do not have a specific direction, after graduating with a university degree, they are still uncertain about their future. Where is the fault or is it because of poor career guidance and orientation?
In my opinion, there are many reasons, among which social psychology and social context also have a great impact. The tradition of examinations, information from the media, community values, and family all influence the choices of young people. It is not only the case that students choose universities, faculties, and majors easily and then "study for free" to get a degree, even when it comes to vocational training, many students also choose it for the sake of it and easily.
That is, when not well educated in thinking and will as well as having healthy values about studying and working, whether graduating from high school and going to work, going to vocational school or going to college or university, young people do it with a superficial mindset. They are indifferent, waiting for time to run out and expecting "having a degree will solve everything". Therefore, the story here is bigger than learning a trade or going to college or university. It is a story about education about values, about educational philosophy...
In the current context of integration, is cooperation in training between schools and foreign enterprises (with suitable corresponding industries) a feasible option?
That is what needs to be done. Once the employers are the ones hiring the workers, schools need to know what the companies expect from their workers. Linking with companies will help schools provide more practical training and students will have a better idea of their careers.
Good students can even find jobs and earn money from businesses while they are studying. In return, businesses can also recruit and retain good students and suitable trainees. Both sides benefit from this method.
Let me take responsibility for my life
What should candidates and parents learn about choosing schools and careers during the university and college admissions season? How should we change our mindset about degrees?
It is necessary to innovate and promote vocational education in general schools with appropriate content and methods in both the main and extracurricular areas. In addition, families need to have many other channels to help their children such as reading books, researching on the Internet, receiving information from businesses, schools, etc.
Parents cannot make decisions for their children because they will have to take responsibility for their own lives. Therefore, what parents should do is to give their children many experiences, read books, and access multi-dimensional information to gain a deep understanding of society. From there, they will have the right choice of school, career, and path after graduating from high school. Parents should look at the true value of studying and working instead of liking the luxury of degrees or illusory titles.
Every admission season, experts always emphasize to candidates about career orientation, clearly defining their own development path, not chasing after “hot” careers. In your opinion, what is the solution to the current situation of unemployed graduates?
I think there could be two reasons for unemployed graduates. One is that the economy is not strong enough to create many jobs for graduates. Two is that there are many jobs but graduates do not meet the requirements.
In fact, I see businesses and recruitment organizations often complain that they cannot recruit suitable personnel because the candidates' abilities are not enough. When university graduates have both general cultural background and specialized professional skills that are no better than those who did not go to university, they will certainly be unemployed.
This reality places an obvious requirement on students when they go to school to really focus on studying, making the most of every learning opportunity inside and outside of school to have the best professional skills, and be able to work professionally. The fact that some professions become “hot” at a certain time does not mean that they will continue to be “hot”, even if so, whether the students’ abilities are suitable or not is another matter.
In studying and working, you should choose the career that you are most capable of doing, most passionate about, most professional, and most competitive in, instead of choosing a career that many people are interested in. When many people are interested in it, it means there is a lot of competition.
If you do not have an advantage in that competition, you will fail. It is more suitable to choose a career that you have strengths in. For graduates who are unemployed, there are still many opportunities. If you realize that what you have learned is not useful, be brave enough to give up and learn another career.
In today’s society, learning opportunities are wide open with books, libraries, the Internet… What is important is concentration, the right learning philosophy and persistent diligence. If you have all of these factors, there will never be a case of graduates being unemployed.
Thank you!
Education researcher and translator Nguyen Quoc Vuong has translated and written about 90 books on education, history, and culture. Some typical books include: - Translated books: Vietnam's education reform, National character, Happiness with daily life... - Books written: Reading books and the arduous journey of a thousand miles, What can Vietnamese education learn from Japan, History is not as boring as you think, Thinking about Vietnamese education on a long journey, Finding the philosophy of Vietnamese education... Award: Good Book Award 2020 for the book What Vietnamese Education Can Learn from Japan. |
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